I am surprised that more people have not already written a book like this.
The compliance industry is relatively new—compared to other staff functions in companies—but there are not many resources on how to conduct a relevant, business-oriented investigation. The handful of investigation books out there seem to focus either on traditional Human Resources investigations—I have always called them the “I hate my boss” cases—or are written by lawyers who handle existential-crisis investigations with allegations that threaten to destroy their corporate clients. But what about the other 80 percent of the problems facing professionals who are responsible for investigations: the kind that include personnel-management problems, operations deficiencies, management issues, and customer disputes?
I am also surprised that the compliance industry has not yet sufficiently addressed the role workplace investigations play in a company’s ethics and compliance function. To me, investigations are the flip-side of codes of conduct, corporate policies, hotlines and training. Those are the proactive steps a company properly takes to establish its operating rules concerning these important issues. But those steps are essentially mechanisms to implement the rules of proper conduct. They are not ends in themselves.